Compositions, assemblies, and methods applied during or after a dental procedure to ameliorate fluid loss and/or promote healing, using a hydrophilic polymer sponge structure such as chitosan

Abstract

Dental dressing assemblies are formed from hydrophilic polymer sponge structures, such as a densified chitosan biomaterial.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 743,052, filed on Dec. 23, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,371,403 entitled “Wound Dressing and Method of Controlling Severe Life-Threatening Bleeding,”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 480,827, filed on Oct. 6, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,482,503 entitled “Wound Dressing and Method of Controlling Severe Life-Threatening Bleeding,” which was a national stage filing under 37 C.F.R. §371 of International Application No. PCT / US02 / 18757, filed on Jun. 14, 2002, which claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60 / 298,773 filed Jun. 14, 2001, which are each incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The invention is generally directed to compositions, assemblies, and methods applied during or after a dental procedure to ameliorate bleeding, fluid seepage or weeping, or other forms of fluid loss, as well as promote h...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0018]The assemblies, systems and methods that make use of the hydrophilic polymer sponge structure stanch, seal, or stabilize a site of tissue or bone injury, tissue or bone trauma, or tissue or bone surgery. The use of hydrophilic polymer sponge structure can also form an anti-microbial or anti-viral barrier; and / or promote coagulation; and / or release a therapeutic agent; and / or treat a periodontal or bone surface; and / or combinations thereof.

Problems solved by technology

A tooth may become damaged, or decayed, e.g., due to erosion of the calcium in the tooth's enamel by bacteria.

This, in turn, can lead to erosion of the dentin beneath the enamel.

The result is tooth ache.

In this regard, there are about two million teeth lost each year due to accidents.

Dry socket can cause pain and discomfort, which will subside only as the socket heals through a secondary healing process.

While the presence of such materials may absorb blood and fluids, they do not promote or create conditions conducive to rapid and long term hemostasis or healing.

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